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A hearing to determine if a former Brighton father convicted of abusing his then-11-week-old daughter will lose his parental rights to his only child was adjourned to June.

Meanwhile, Joshua Quincy Burns’ story will be broadcast Monday on “Dr. Phil.” Burns, wife Brenda Burns and her attorney are all expected to appear on the show, which airs in Howell at 4 p.m. on CBS.

The Burns couple and their attorneys were in Livingston County Circuit Court on Friday for a status conference on a disposition hearing that will determine whether Joshua Burns will lose his parental rights to his daughter, Naomi, now 1.

Joseph Eldred, a private attorney hired to represent the Department of Human Services, maintains that the Child Protection Law — MCL 722.638 — indicates that the state “shall file” a petition to seek termination of parental rights if the parent has been convicted of child abuse. He maintains the court has jurisdiction over Naomi when it has jurisdiction over one parent.

Elizabeth Warner, who represents Brenda Burns, agrees that “while the Legislature requires DHS to file a termination petition in serious abuse cases,” she says it “does not require them to continue to pursue it.” She says the state has given no indication, however, that it will drop the matter.

Judge Miriam Cavanaugh appears to agree with the defense, and she asked state social workers to check with their supervisors to determine if they are required to continue with the legal proceedings because Joshua Burns was convicted of child abuse. The issue will be discussed at a June 1 status conference. If the state pursues the case, the disposition hearing is slated to begin June 2.

Friday’s hearing also was an opportunity for Cavanaugh to learn more about whether the state’s Department of Human Services will continue to pursue its petition against Brenda Burns, who fled to Colorado to avoid what she believes is unconstitutional oversight by the state agency.

Currently, Cavanaugh has ruled DHS must see Naomi because a civil jury found Joshua Burns responsible for the child’s injuries, placing the child in the court’s jurisdiction. However, the judge placed that on hold pending the outcome of the disposition hearing for the Burns patriarch.

In a civil trial, Brenda Burns was found not responsible for her daughter’s injuries, which included seizures, hypothermia, hypotension, bradycardia, apnea and retinal hemorrhages. As such, Warner maintains that means Brenda Burns is the fit parent and the court cannot tell her who can see her child.

Naomi’s court-appointed attorney, however, has seen her in person and he told the court the child is “doing well” and is “very outgoing.” The attorney expressed no concerns about Naomi being in her mother’s care.

Warner asked Cavanaugh to see the girl in her chambers at the next hearing so the judge can verify firsthand the girl is doing well. Cavanaugh said she didn’t believe it was necessary to meet Naomi, but she is considering the request.

“She’s doing very well,” Warner said after the court hearing. “She’s quite the prima donna. ... She’s pretty advanced for her age actually. You can see pictures of a sick child with tubes in them and think she’s going to be brain damaged forever.

“In fact, if this was a misdiagnosis — as we think it was — I think the fact Naomi is so well really supports the parents’ position this wasn’t abuse. It was a misdiagnoses by a doctor,” the attorney noted. “It’s something she recovered from.”

Joshua Burns and Brenda Burns maintain he is innocent. They both acknowledged that he grabbed Naomi’s face to stop her fall when she slipped from his grasp after he ended a phone call from his wife in March 2014. However, they call the incident “an accident” and not child abuse.

At Joshua Burns’ sentencing hearing, an assistant prosecutor said she believes the defendant is not telling the whole story, implying the child possibly struck her head on the table.

Joshua Burns was subsequently sentenced to three years of probation with the first year served in the Livingston County Jail.

In interviews with the Livingston Daily, Joshua Burns maintains his innocence, as he does in a snippet from the “Dr. Phil” show in which he says: “I never abused my daughter.”